Man lives consciously for himself, but is an unconscious instrument in the attainment of the historic, universal, aims of humanity.

Which is worse? the wolf who cries before eating the lamb or the wolf who does not.

War is like a game of chess ... but with this little difference, that in chess you may think over each move as long as you please and are not limited for time, and with this difference too, that a knight is always stronger than a pawn, and two pawns are always stronger than one, while in war a battalion is sometimes stronger than a division and sometimes weaker than a company. The relative strength of bodies of troops can never be known to anyone.... Success never depends, and never will depend, on position, or equipment, or even on numbers, and least of all on position.

But every acquisition that is disproportionate to the labor spent on it is dishonest.

He had heard that women often love plain ordinary men, but he did not believe it, because he judged by himself and he could only love beautiful mysterious exceptional women.

What an immense mass of evil must result...from allowing men to assume the right of anticipating what may happen.

True life is lived when tiny changes occur.